The present invention relates to a spoonable or spreadable composition, resembling (part of) the properties of mayonnaise or spreads.
Mayonnaise and spreads (i.e. butter-resembling products as are used for spreading on slices of bread and bread rolls, such as are known as margarine) have a rheological behavior which usually makes them spoonable (in the case of mayonnaise) or spreadable (in the case of spreads). These are important attributes for these products.
Conventional mayonnaise contains high levels (70-80%) of an oil phase, which is dispersed in a water phase. The presence of the large amount of dispersed phase ensures the product has a spoonable character. When preparing mayonnaise-like products having a reduced amount of oil, measures will have to be taken to obtain a product having a sufficient xe2x80x9crigidxe2x80x9d character, so as to be spoonable. Usually this is done by adding thickeners such as starches or gums to thicken the water phase.
In conventional spreads (80% fat) a spreadable character is obtained by choosing the right fat blend having a specific melting behavior. The same applies for water-continuous spreads having a fat content of about 80-40%. When reducing the amount of fat in a water-continuous spread to e.g. less than 40% (and thus increasing the amount of water to about 80%) specific measures will need to be taken in order to ensure a sufficient xe2x80x9crigidityxe2x80x9d, so as to maintain a spreadable product. Again, this may usually be achieved by adding to the composition thickeners such as starches or gums.
The application of gums and starches have a number of disadvantages, as are known in the art (poor melting behavior, starchy taste, stickiness, etcetera). Another solution that has been proposed to obtain mayonnaise-like products which have a reduced amount of fat phase, which do not contain large amounts of gums or starches, and which oil products are still spoonable or spreadable is the use of micro gel particles (as is described in EP 355908, EP 432835, EP 558113). Such microgel particles are generally prepared from gel-forming hydrocolloids, such as agar, alginate, pectin, gellan, and carrageenans.
The use of such micro gel particles in e.g. low-fat mayonnaise-type products may give sufficient rigidity to the product, but breakdown in the mouth of the emulsion is still far from that as experienced in the case of traditional mayonnaise. More in particular, breakdown is too slow.
In products such as whipped dairy cream it is known that structure can be obtained using a technique, which is know as xe2x80x9cclumpingxe2x80x9d. Clumping is one of the three aggregation states that can occur when fat or oil droplets are dispersed in an aqueous phase, the others being flocculation and clustering. Clumping is a case of partial coalescence, where oil droplets are no longer discrete, but also do not completely coalesce because of the rigidity of fat. Prerequisites for clumping are the presence of solid fat, a stabilising emulsifier, preferably protein, and also of a de-stabilizing emulsifier, where both types of emulsifiers act at the interface of fat and water. Such partial coalescence is described e.g. in: Cream Alternatives, by I. J. Campbell, and M. G. Jones in Lipid Technologies and applications, 355-369 (1997), publ. Marcel Dekker NY, USA.
There is a need for low-fat, water continuous emulsions, resembling as much as possible the properties of e.g. mayonnaise or spreads, with respect to both rigidity and melting behavior. Rigidity is herein to be seen as relating to a spoonable or spreadable product, which may be expressed (for the purpose of this invention) as having an elastic modulus Gxe2x80x2 of at least 250 Pa.
It has now been found that the above may be provided by an edible composition containing (by weight, based on the final composition as consumed):
10-65% of water as a continuous phase,
1-45% of a fat phase,
30-80% microgel particles dispersed in the continuous phase,
0.1-10% of a stabilising emulsifier, preferably being a protein,
0.01-2% of a de-stabilizing emulsifier, and
wherein the composition has an elastic modulus (Gxe2x80x2) of at least 250 Pa and less than 100,000 Pa. Preferably the elastic modulus is between 500 and 10,000 Pa.
The above may be conveniently achieved when at least part of the fat phase (e.g. at least 50%) is solid at 10xc2x0 C., preferably also at 5xc2x0 C. Suitable solid fats in this respect are e.g. hardened palm kernel fat (PK38), coconut fat (CN), hardened coconut fat (CN33), butter fat or mixtures thereof. Actual amounts of fat, its melting point, and the ratio liquid/solid fat that will give satisfactory results will depend on e.g. the protein and de-stabilizing emulsifier, temperature of processing, etcetera.
The micro gel particles in the above may conveniently comprise any of the known gel-forming hydrocolloids, such as agar, alginate, pectin, gellan, carrageenans. These materials may be made into (aqueous) micro gel particles by techniques as are known in the art, such as applying shear under gelling conditions. Usually, at least 80% (by weight) of such microgel particles will have a size of 5-100 xcexcm.
Examples of de-stabilizing emulsifiers are: monoglycerides, lecithin, polyglycerol esters, and Tween""s. In particular are preferred the de-stabilizing emulsifiers, which contain one or more unsaturated fatty acid chains (e.g. monoglycerides of oleic acid).
In the compositions according to the invention, the (stabilizing) protein as well as the de-stabilizing emulsifier may be supplied by one and the same composition. An example of a composition capable of both functions is egg yolk. As egg-yolk usually contains about 50% of water, the amount to be used will (in such case) generally between 0.2-25% (in order to have a dry protein weight of 0.1-10%), preferably 5-20%. Hence, the compositions according to the invention may contain 0.2-25%, preferably 5-20% of egg yolk, to at least partly supply the amount of (stabilizing) protein and de-stabilizing emulsifier.
The compositions according to the invention may be obtained conveniently by a process for the preparation of a spreadable or spoonable food composition having an elastic modulus (Gxe2x80x2) of between 250 and 100,000 Pa, which composition comprises
10-65% of water as a continuous phase,
1-45% of a fat phase,
30-80% microgel particles dispersed in the continuous phase,
0.1-10% of a protein,
0.01-2% of a de-stabilizing emulsifier,
and which process comprises at least the steps of:
melting the fat phase,
emulsify the molten fat in (part of) the water phase
add the microgel particles,
mix,
cool to a temperature at which at least 50% of the fat is solid,
and wherein the protein (or other stabilising emulsfier) and emulsifier are added to the water phase or the fat phase, or both, prior to adding the micro gel particles.
All percentages are by weight, unless indicated otherwise.